LOWELL -- Kathy Cavanaugh and Fran Sargent were working in the gift shop at St. Joseph the Worker Shrine in downtown Lowell when Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected by his fellow cardinals to be the new pope.

Neither woman was very familiar with Cardinal Bergoglio prior to his elevation, but both were soon won over by the humility of his first few statements as pontiff.

"I'm so excited. He's very humble," Cavanaugh said. "He thought of (Pope) Benedict and asked everyone to pray for him."

Humility is a trait for which Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, has long been known.

The 76-year-old often rode the bus to work as Cardinal in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, and is said to cook his own meals and frequently visit slums that surround his home city. He lives in an apartment instead of a stately church-owned mansion.

One of Francis' first requests as pope was that Catholics around the world pray for him.

"I would like to give the blessing, but first -- first I ask a favor of you: before the Bishop blesses his people, I ask you to pray to the Lord that he will bless me," Francis said in his first, brief address.

"We pray for him, and he prays for us," Sargent said. "It's a great day. A new beginning."

Sargent also admired the peacefulness Pope Francis projected in his first appearance as pope.

At St. Francis Parish in Dracut, Pastor Brian Mahoney said, "I'm psyched" about the choice of Bergoglio, particularly because Bergoglio is from Argentina.

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"I was hoping the pope would be from either Africa or South America," Mahoney said. "I think the church needs perspective outside first-world nations."

Neither Mahoney nor several other pastors in Greater Lowell felt it will be significant that Francis is from the Jesuit order. Francis is the first Jesuit to be pope, but there have been other popes from other Catholic orders before.

Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, another leading contender to become pope, is a Capuchin Franciscan.

William Edmund Fahey, president of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, N.H., said the choice of a South American Cardinal is significant.

More than 40 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics live in Latin America, and Fahey said the choice recognizes "the faith in those lands."

Francis is the first pope from the Americas. It has been over 1,200 years since a non-European was pope, though the very first Pope, Saint Peter, was not European. St. Peter was born in what is believed to be modern-day Israel.

Fahey was also pleased the Cardinals selected a leader who was not widely known.

"I find it humorous how people are scrambling to read his Wikipedia page and there really isn't a whole lot of information about him," Fahey said. "It shows the church is full of surprises."

Fahey agreed it is insignificant that Francis is a Jesuit, especially since Francis has not always seen eye to eye with his order.

"He has actually gone against the Jesuits on many social issues and has been a great proponent of social change," Fahey said.

Rev. Nicholas Sannella, pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Lowell, said the new pope's order and place of birth will be irrelevant as he takes charge of the worldwide church.

"It doesn't matter, whatever they are, if they are part of the church they are part of the world," Sanella said.

Like Cavanaugh and Sargent, who expressed excitement at the new beginning for the church and a new chance for the church to give guidance, Sannella said he was pleased to see the energy surrounding the choice.

"It's an exciting time," Sannella said. "There has been a lot of excitment in my church in the past hour and there has been a lot of energy."

The brief remarks Pope Francis made in his first appearance Wednesday were all the new pope has said publicly so far, but excitement remains about having a pontiff from the new world.

Rev. Mahoney said the choice shows the church is moving "in a more positive direction."

"Isn't it wonderful," said Rev. Charles Hughes, pastor of St. Anthony's Church in Lowell, which has a number of parishioners of South American descent. "It's extraordinary that the cardinal was selected from South America. It was a surprise that expresses the universality of the church."

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